View source for Royal Exchange, London

{{Short description|Historic commercial building in London; built in 1571, rebuilt in 1844}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox shopping mall
|name             = The Royal Exchange
|image            = Bolsa, Londres, Inglaterra, 2014-08-11, DD 144.JPG
|image_width      = 
|caption          = The west [[façade]] of the Royal Exchange from the [[Bank junction]]
|location         = [[London]], United Kingdom
|address          = 
|coordinates      = {{Coord|51|30|49|N|0|05|14|W|region:GB-LND_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|opening_date     = {{Start date and age|1571|01|23|df=yes}} (original structure)<br />{{Start date and age|1844|10|28|df=yes}} (current structure)
|developer        = 
|manager          = 
|owner            = The Ardent Companies (since 2022)
|architect        = [[Sir William Tite]]
|number_of_stores = 33 stores; 5 restaurants and cafes
|parking          = None
|publictransit    = {{rint|london|underground}} {{rint|london|dlr}} {{lus|Bank-Monument}}
|website          = {{url|theroyalexchange.co.uk}}
}}

'''The Royal Exchange''' in London was founded in the 16th century by the merchant [[Sir Thomas Gresham]] on the suggestion of his [[factor (agent)|factor]] [[Richard Clough]] to act as a centre of [[commerce]] for the [[City of London]].<ref>[http://grisham.weebly.com/sir-thomas-gresham.html grisham.weebly.com]; accessed 31 July 2016</ref> The site was provided by the [[City of London Corporation]] and the [[Worshipful Company of Mercers]], who still jointly own the freehold. The original foundation was ceremonially opened by [[Queen Elizabeth I]] who granted it its "royal" title. The current [[neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] building has a [[trapezoid]]al floor plan and is flanked by [[Cornhill, London|Cornhill]] and [[Threadneedle Street]], which converge at [[Bank junction]] in the heart of the city. It lies in the [[Wards of the City of London|Ward]] of [[Cornhill, London|Cornhill]].
  
The exchange building has twice been destroyed by fire and subsequently rebuilt. The present building was designed by [[Sir William Tite]] in the 1840s. The site was notably occupied by the [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyd's insurance market]] for nearly 150 years. Today, the Royal Exchange contains restaurants and luxury shops.

Traditionally, the steps of the Royal Exchange are the place where certain [[royal proclamation]]s (such as the dissolution of parliament) are read out by either a [[herald]] or a [[crier]]. Following the death or abdication of a monarch and the confirmation of the next monarch's accession to the throne by the [[Accession Council]], the Royal Exchange Building is one of the locations where a herald proclaims the new monarch's reign to the public.

==History==
[[Richard Clough]] initially suggested building the exchange in 1562, and its original design was inspired by the [[The Belgian bourse of Antwerp|Antwerp bourse]], the world's first purpose-built [[Exchange (organized market)|bourse]], with which Thomas Gresham, the representative of the English crown in Antwerp, was familiar, and on which the designs of the bourses of [[Euronext_Amsterdam#Buildings|Amsterdam]] (1611)<ref>{{cite web |title=The exchange of Hendrick de Keyser |url=https://www.beursgeschiedenis.nl/en/moment/the-exchange-of-hendrick-de-keyser/ | website=Exchange History NL |language=En}}</ref> and [[Rotterdam]] would also be based.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yN9PnP4kv5cC&pg=PA94|title=The Rise of Commercial Empires: England and the Netherlands in the Age of Mercantilism, 1650-1770|first= David|last= Ormrod|year= 2003|page=94|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521819268}}</ref>

It was Britain's first specialist [[commercial building]], and Clough oversaw the importing of some of the materials from Antwerp: stone, slate, wainscot and glass, for which he paid thousands of pounds himself.<ref>{{cite book |last=Burgon |first=John William |author-link=John Burgon |date=1839 |title=The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham |url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofsirth01burguoft |location=London |publisher=Robert Jennings }}</ref><ref>[http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ThomasGresham.htm tudorplace.com; accessed 31 July 2016.]</ref> The Royal Exchange was officially opened on 23 January 1571 by [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], who awarded the building its royal title and a licence to sell alcohol and valuable goods.<ref>Mason, 1920, p. 11 ff.</ref> Only the exchange of goods took place until the 17th century. [[Stockbroker]]s were not allowed into the Royal Exchange because of their rude manners, hence they had to operate from other establishments in the vicinity, such as [[Jonathan's Coffee-House]]. Gresham's original building was destroyed in the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666.<ref>Mason, 1920, p. 33 ff</ref> 

{{quote|Take a view of the Royal Exchange in London, a place more venerable than many courts of justice, where the representatives of all nations meet for the benefit of mankind. There the Jew, the Mahometan [Muslim], and the Christian transact together, as though they all professed the same religion, and give the name of infidel to none but bankrupts. There the Presbyterian confides in the Anabaptist, and the Churchman depends on the Quaker's word.|[[Voltaire]]'s observation of the Royal Exchange in ''[[Letters on the English]]'' (1733).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/34/2/6.html|title=Letter VI – On the Presbyterians. Letters on the English.|last=Voltaire|first=François Marie Arouet de.|date=1909–1914|website=www.bartleby.com|publisher=The Harvard Classics|orig-date=1734|access-date=4 May 2024}}</ref>}}

A second complex was built on the site, designed by Edward Jarman and opened in 1669. It featured a tall wooden tower over the south entrance in Corn Hill; this eventually fell into disrepair and, in 1821, was replaced by a new stone tower and [[cupola]] designed by [[George Smith (architect)|George Smith]]. The second Exchange was also burned down on 10 January 1838 in a fire caused by an overheated stove; the blaze was visible from [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]], {{convert|24|miles}} away.<ref name="Thornbury1878">{{cite book |last=Thornbury |first=Walter |author-link=George Walter Thornbury |date=1878 |chapter=The Royal Exchange |title=Old and New London: Volume I |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol1/pp494-513 |location=London |publisher=Cassell, Petter, & Galpin |pages=494–513 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref> It had been used by the [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyd's insurance market]], which was forced to move temporarily to South Sea House following the 1838 fire.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HKQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA496|title=The Manual of Dates: a Dictionary of Reference to All the Most Important Events in the History of Mankind to be Found in Authentic Records|page=496|first= George Henry|last= Townsend|year= 1862|publisher=Routledge, Warne, & Routledge}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" class="center">
Wenceslas Hollar - Royal Exchange (State 2).jpg|The original Royal Exchange in an engraving by [[Wenceslaus Hollar]]
Bourse de Londres (Description de l'Univers, V, pl. 22).jpg|The second Royal Exchange by [[Alain Manesson Mallet]] in 1683
Image-RoyalExchangeThomasBowles1751 2.jpg|The Royal Exchange from Corn Hill by Thomas Bowles in 1781
Microcosm of London Plate 067 - Royal Exchange (tone and colour).jpg|The interior of the Exchange in the late 18th century
Royal Exchange and Cornhill.jpg|The Royal Exchange in 1837 shortly before it was destroyed by fire, showing the replacement tower
</gallery>

===Current building===
The third Royal Exchange building, which still stands today, was designed by [[Sir William Tite]] who won the commission through a competition in 1839-40 at the expense of [[Charles Robert Cockerell|C. R. Cockerell]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wells |first=M. J. |title=Relations and Reflections to the Eye and Understanding: Architectural Models and the Rebuilding of the Royal Exchange, 1839–44 |journal=Architectural History |volume=60 |pages=219-241}}</ref> Tite's design adheres to the original layout–consisting of a four-sided structure surrounding a central courtyard where merchants and tradesmen could do business. The internal works, designed by [[Edward I'Anson]], made use of [[concrete]]—an early example of this modern construction method.<ref name="Collins2004">{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Zttxa_oHcEC&pg=PA48 |title=Concrete: the vision of a new architecture |date=April 2004 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-2564-1 |page=48 |access-date=12 October 2010}}</ref> It features pediment sculptures by [[Richard Westmacott (the younger)]], and ornamental cast ironwork by [[Henry Grissell]]'s Regent's Canal Ironworks.  It was opened by [[Queen Victoria]] on 28 October 1844,<ref>See this opening described in [[s:The Letters of Queen Victoria/Volume 2/Chapter 13/To King of Belgians 29 October 1844|Queen Victoria's letter]] to Leopold I on the next day.</ref> though trading did not commence until 1 January 1845.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHZaAAAAMAAJ|title=The Companion to Great Expectations|page=208|first= David|last= Paroissien|year=2000|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0313318009}}</ref>

[[Paul Reuter|Paul Julius Reuter]] established the [[Reuters]] news agency at {{abbr|No.|Number}} 1, Royal Exchange Buildings (opposite and to the east of the Royal Exchange) in 1851. It later moved to [[Fleet Street]].<ref name="Thomson Reuters 2017">{{cite web | title=Company history | website=Thomson Reuters | date=21 November 2017 | url=https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/company-history.html | access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" class="center">
Royal Exchange from above.jpg|Aerial view from the rear
Pictorial Handbook of London (1854), p. 383 – Ground plan of Royal Exchange.jpg|Plan of the ground floor
Pictorial Handbook of London (1854), p. 382 – Plan of first floor of Royal Exchange.jpg|Plan of the first floor
</gallery>

===Portico and pediment===
[[File:Flickr - davehighbury - Royal Exchange, London (frieze).jpg|thumb|Detail of the [[pedimental sculpture]]]]

The western end of the building consists of a [[portico]] of eight [[Corinthian column]]s topped by a [[pediment]] containing a [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] with [[relief sculpture]] by [[Richard Westmacott (the younger)]] of seventeen figures representing London merchants and foreign traders. The central [[allegorical figure]] represents Commerce, above an inscription chosen by [[Albert, Prince Consort]] from [[Psalm 24]]: "The Earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof".<ref name="Thornbury1878"/> The Latin inscription on the [[frieze]] states:

{{blockquote|Anno XIII. Elizabethae R. Conditvm; Anno VIII. Victoriae R. Restavratvm.<ref name="Thornbury1878"/>}}

or "founded in the thirteenth year of Queen Elizabeth, and restored in the eighth of Queen Victoria".<ref>{{cite web|title=Victorian London – Buildings, Monuments and Museums – Royal Exchange|website=Victorian London (The Dictionary of Victorian London)|url=https://www.victorianlondon.org/buildings/royalexchange.htm|access-date=3 December 2016}}</ref>

===Statues===
[[File:The Iron Duke - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|Chantrey's equestrian statue of Wellington, with the lion of the London Troops Memorial behind.]]

Two statues stand in [[Niche (architecture)|niche]]s in the central courtyard. ''[[Charles II of Great Britain|Charles II]]'' (a copy of 1792 by [[John Spiller]] after [[Grinling Gibbons]]' statue in the centre of the 17th century courtyard) and ''Queen [[Elizabeth I]]'' by [[Musgrave Watson]], 1844. The Charles II statue survived the fire of 1838 that destroyed the previous Exchange. The Elizabeth I statue was commissioned as she was the monarch who had conferred the status "Royal" on the Exchange.<ref>Sir Nikolaus Pevsner. ''The Buildings of England''.</ref><ref>Philip Ward-Jackson. ''The Public Sculpture of the City of London'' 2003.</ref><ref>Henry Moore Foundation. "Spiller, John". ''A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660–1851'' 2009.</ref>

In front of the portico of the Royal Exchange is a statue of [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington]], the last work of Sir [[Francis Leggatt Chantrey]]. The bronze used to cast it was donated by the government and sourced from French [[cannon]]s captured during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. It was unveiled on 18 June 1844, the anniversary of the [[Battle of Waterloo]], in the presence of [[Frederick Augustus II of Saxony|the King of Saxony]].<ref name="Thornbury1878"/>

Between the Wellington statue and the exchange steps is the [[London Troops Memorial]] commemorating the dead of military units associated with the City and [[County of London]] during the [[First World War]]. Designed by Sir [[Aston Webb]], the monument is flanked by two bronze statues of soldiers and surmounted by a lion, all sculpted by [[Alfred Drury]]. It was unveiled on 12 November 1920 in the presence of the [[Duke of York]], later King [[George VI]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/11796 |title=MEN OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF LONDON |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=11 January 2019 |website=www.iwm.org.uk |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref>

===The Gresham Grasshopper===
[[File:UK - London (29880741884).jpg|thumb|upright|The northeast corner of the Royal Exchange, showing the Gresham Grasshopper on top of the clock tower.]]

The golden Gresham [[Grasshopper]] is the Royal Exchange's [[weathervane]] and was the [[Crest (heraldry)|crest]] of the founder, Sir [[Thomas Gresham]]. According to legend, a grasshopper's chirps once led to the discovery of a foundling, who became the first of the house of Gresham and the ancestor of Sir Thomas Gresham.  The Grasshopper weathervane was rescued from the 1838 fire and is {{convert|11|feet}} long. It stands {{convert|177|feet}} above street level on a [[clock tower]] which has a clock by [[Edward John Dent]].<ref name="Thornbury1878"/>  A similar grasshopper weathervane on the [[Faneuil Hall]] in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] was made by [[Shem Drowne]] in 1742 and was inspired by the London example.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Dean |editor-first=John Ward |date=1895 |title=The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 49 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsYMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA24 |location=Boston MA |publisher=New England Historic Genealogy Society |page=24 }}</ref>

===Bells===
The tower contains a chime of 15 bells all cast by [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry|Charles and George Mears of Whitechapel]] in 1844, with a mechanism that can play [[God Save the King]], [[The Roast Beef of Old England]], [[Rule Britannia!]] and [[Psalm 104]].<ref name="Thornbury1878"/> The combined weight of them is {{long ton | |131 |1 |}}. The original plan was to have the same number of bells  as before the fire (nine) but was increased to 15 at the suggestion of [[Edward John Dent]], who, having visited Brussels to obtain information as to the arrangement of carillons, was convinced to recommend that the number so that a greater range of tunes could be played. Professor Taylor advised the committee to increase them to fifteen, which would then allow of playing in three octaves. The largest is also the hour bell, and bears the following inscription "''Cast for the Royal Exchange in the year of grace 1844; Richard Lambert Jones, Chairman of the Gresham College Committee; Daniel Watney, Master of the Mercers' Company; Ebenezer Trottman, Assistant; William Tite, Architect; Charles and George Mears, founders.''" The others only bear the words "''Royal Exchange, 1844''."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bells and Chimes of the Royal Exchange |url=http://london.lovesguide.com/articles/royal_exchange1844_11-02.php |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=london.lovesguide.com}}</ref>

===Murals===
[[File:Normand - King John Signing Magna Charta.jpg|thumb|upright|Mural depicting ''King John Sealing Magna Carta'' by [[Ernest Normand]].]]

From 1892, twenty-four scenes from London's history were painted on the first-floor walls by artists including [[Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton|Sir Frederic Leighton]], [[Frank Brangwyn|Sir Frank Brangwyn]] and [[Stanhope Forbes]]. The [[mural]]s run as a sequence:

{{Div col|colwidth=45em}}
* ''Phoenicians trading with the early Britons on the coast of Cornwall'' by [[Sir Frederic Leighton]] (1895)
* ''Alfred the Great repairing the walls of the City of London'' by [[Frank O. Salisbury]] (1912)
* ''William the Conqueror granting a Charter to the Citizens of London'' by [[John Seymour Lucas]] (1898)
* ''William II building the Tower of London'' by Charles Goldsborough Anderson (1911)
* ''King John sealing Magna Carta'' by [[Ernest Normand]] (1900)
* ''Sir Henry Picard, Master of the Vinters' Company entertaining Kings of England, France, Scotland Denmark & Cyprus'' by [[Albert Chevallier Tayler]] (1903)
* ''Sir Richard Whittington dispensing his Charities'' by [[Henrietta Rae]] (1900)
* ''Philip the Good presenting the charter to the Merchant Adventurers'' by Elija A Cox (1916)
* ''Henry VI Battle of Barnet 1471, the Trained Bands marching to the support of Edward IV'' by John Henry Amschewitz (1911)
* ''Reconciliation of the Skinners & Merchant Taylors' Companies by Lord Mayor Billesden, 1484'' by [[Edwin Austin Abbey]] (1904)
* ''The Crown offered to Richard III at Baynard's Castle'' by [[Sigismund Goetze]] (1898)
* ''The Foundation of St Paul's School, 1509'' by [[William Frederick Yeames]] (1905)
* ''The Opening the first Royal Exchange by Queen Elizabeth I'' by [[Ernest Crofts]] (1899)
* ''Charles I demanding the Five Members at the Guildhall, 1641–42'' by [[Solomon Joseph Solomon]] (1897)
* ''The Great Fire of London, 1666'' by [[Stanhope Forbes]] (1899)
* ''Founding of the Bank of England, 27 July 1694'' by George Harcourt (1904)
* ''Nelson leaving Portsmouth, 18 May 1803'' by [[Andrew Carrick Gow]] (1903)
* ''Destruction of the Second Royal Exchange in 1838'' by [[Stanhope Forbes]] (1899)
* ''Opening of the Royal Exchange by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, 28 October 1844'' by [[Robert Walker Macbeth]] (1895)
* ''Women's Work in the Great War, 1914–1918'' by [[Lucy Kemp-Welch]] (1922)
* ''Blocking of Zeebrugge Waterway, St George's Day, 23 April 1918'' by [[William Lionel Wyllie]] (1920)
* ''Their Majesties King George V & Queen Mary visiting the Battle Districts in France, 1917'' by [[Frank O. Salisbury]] (1917)
* ''National Peace Thanksgiving Service on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, 6 July 1919'' by [[Frank O. Salisbury]] (1919)
* ''Modern Commerce'' by Sir [[Frank Brangwyn]] (1906)
{{div col end}}

With the outbreak of the [[World War II|Second World War]], trading at the Royal Exchange virtually ended. At war's end, the building had survived [[the Blitz]], albeit with some near misses.

==Modern use==
[[File:The Courtyard at The Royal Exchange London.jpg|thumb|The courtyard of the Royal Exchange in 2019]]

In 1982 the Royal Exchange was in disrepair – in particular, the glass roof was in danger of collapse. The newly formed [[London International Financial Futures Exchange]] (LIFFE) was the main tenant, using the courtyard for the trading floor, all done without touching the framework of the original building. LIFFE moved to Cannon Bridge in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hidden-london.com/nuggets/royal-exchange/|title=Royal Exchange - Hidden London|website=hidden-london.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/londons-royal-exchange |title=London's Royal Exchange &#124; History.co.uk |accessdate=2014-08-23 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819233952/http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-london/londons-royal-exchange |archivedate=19 August 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

In 2001 the Royal Exchange (interiors and courtyard) was once again extensively remodelled, this time by architects [[Aukett Swanke|Aukett Fitzroy Robinson]]. The works involved the restoration of the fabric of the building, a two floor office extension and replacement of the roof above the courtyard.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aukettswanke.com/projects/royal-exchange/|title=Royal Exchange|publisher= Aukett Swanke|access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>

In a lane by the eastern entrance to the Royal Exchange, stand two statues: one of [[Paul Reuter|Paul Julius Reuter]] who founded [[Reuters|his news agency]] there, and one of [[George Peabody]] who founded the [[Peabody Trust]] and a business which became [[J.P. Morgan & Co.]]<ref>{{cite book | last=Ward-Jackson |first=Philip |title=Public Sculpture of the City of London |series=Public Sculpture of Britain |volume=7 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |place=Liverpool |year=2003 |isbn=0853239673 |pages=338–341 }}</ref>

In 2013 a lease of Royal Exchange was sold by [[Anglo Irish Bank]] to [[Oxford Properties]], a Canadian property company. It had been announced that the site would be sold with a 104-year lease.<ref>{{cite news |first=Oliver |last=Shah |date=10 November 2013 |title=Square Mile landmark to fetch £80m |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]] |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1338367.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110193411/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1338367.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 November 2013}}</ref> Oxford Properties Group, a division of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, bought the retail centre for a reported £86.5 million.<ref>{{cite news|title=Oxford Properties buys landmark London shopping centre |first=Paul |last=Waldie |newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=20 December 2013|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/oxford-properties-buys-landmark-london-shopping-centre/article16070840/}}</ref> In October 2022, Ardent UK acquired the retail element of the Exchange from Oxford Properties Group for around £50 million.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ardent UK and Oxford Properties complete Royal Exchange deal |url=https://reactnews.com/article/ardent-uk-and-oxford-properties-complete-royal-exchange-deal/ |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=React News |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[London Troops War Memorial]], located outside the Exchange
* [[St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* [[A E W Mason|Mason, A. E. W]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/royalexchangenot00masoiala The Royal Exchange: a note on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Royal Exchange Assurance ]'' (London: Royal Exchange, 1920).
* [[W. H. Pyne]]. ''[https://archive.org/details/microcosmoflondo03pyneuoft Microcosm of London; or, London in miniature, volume 3]'' (London Methuen, 1904) p.&nbsp;17 ff.
* Thornbury, Walter. ''[https://archive.org/details/oldnewlondonnarr01thor Old and new London: a narrative of its history, its people, and its places, volume 1]'' (London : Cassell, Petter, & Galpin, 1873) p.&nbsp;494 ff.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/feist/29.html The Royal Exchange] (Victorian Web)

{{Shopping centres in London}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Exchange London, The}}
[[Category:1565 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1844]]
[[Category:Buildings by William Tite]]
[[Category:Economy of the City of London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in the City of London]]
[[Category:Grade I listed markets and exchanges]]
[[Category:History of the City of London]]
[[Category:Shopping centres in the City of London]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the City of London]]